Archive for July, 2012

As of 8:02pm Central time, Ted Cruz leads David Dewhurst 53 to 47 with 348 of 7,957 precincts reporting.

As of 8:14pm, KXII had not added any reporting precincts. But there’s also a run-off for the Democrat sacrificial lamb, and KXII has called that run-off for Paul Sadler. At that time, Sadler leads 63 to 37 with 322 of 7965 precincts reporting, and a vote count of 71,105 to 42,709.

For comparison, the KXII totals for the Republicans in the first update sat at 277,729 for Cruz and 241,902 for Dewhurst.

As of 8:37pm, KXII has called the run-off for Ted Cruz, with fewer precincts reporting than the Secretary of State’s office showed 8 minutes prior. Cruz leads on KXII 53 to 47 with 1,183 of 7,957 precincts reporting.

As of 8:39pm Central time, the Associated Press has called the run-off for Ted Cruz.

As of 8:44pm Central time, the Secretary of State’s office has the unofficial tally at 670,264 for Cruz to 539,658 for Dewhurst with 2,386 precincts reporting.

David Dewhurst was the prohibitive favorite coming into the Primary season and nearly avoided a run-off but came up a fraction short of the 50 percent necessary.

UPDATE: BIG BRAIN CRAMP!
The above numbers from the Secretary of State’s office are wrong. I was reading the wrong line.As of 8:54pm, the Secretary of State’s office has Cruz up 384,947 to Dewhurst’s 323,333 with 2,870 precincts reporting.

As of 9:10pm Central time, the AP shows Cruz up 55 to 45 with 4,043 of 7,957 precincts reporting.

As of 9:14pm, the Secretary of State’s office has only 3,940 precincts reporting and Cruz up 439,879 to 361,363.

If I remember right, Dewhurst garnered 46 percent of the vote in the Primary, facing three big name opponents and a handful of little known opponents. That Dewhurst is only getting 45 percent of the vote now when he only faces one opponent is saying something. Don’t you think?

As of 9:22pm Central time, the Associated Press has Ted Cruz maintaining a 55 to 45 lead, with 4,645 of 7,957 precincts reporting.

Barack Obama had stated that he sees Texas becoming a swing state in the not too distant future. Well, definitely not this time around, if the run-off election is any indicator regarding Texas leanings. The Republican and Democrat run-offs thus far, according to the Associated Press:

As of 9:49pm Central time, the Associated Press reports Cruz has widened his lead to 56 to 44 and a 114,000 vote edge, with 6,274 precincts reporting. On the Democrat side, Paul Sadler (the winner) currently only has 131,000 votes total — with a 53,000 vote lead over his opponent.

The Secretary of State’s office shows 6,012 precincts reporting, with Harris County (Houston) only reporting 507 of 1,064 precincts — and a 54,000 to 34,000 vote Cruz lead over Dewhurst.

It’s a rumored unofficial pseudo-fact that Dewhurst was angling for the Governor’s mansion and adding US Senator to his resume would greatly aid him in that endeavor. It’s quite possible, after a major loss like this that Dewhurst is done as an elected official. The TEA Party lined up behind Cruz while the Establishment lined up behind Dewhurst. The Texas State Senators endorsed Dewhurst because (and this is an educated opinion, based on the Dewhurst infamy) they did not want Dewhurst to retaliate against them.

Time will tell whether Dewhurst retaliates a la Obama (whose vicious, lie-filled “personally destroy the enemy” campaign Dewhurst used) or moderates toward the Conservatives a la Clinton (after the Republican wave of 1994 crushed Clinton’s Big Government goals). But the Texas Lieutenant Governor position is one of the most powerful in the nation, as it is pretty much the major controlling power in the Texas Senate, deciding what gets to the floor to vote.

As of 10:26pm Central time, the Associated Press reports Ted Cruz has further widened his lead over David Dewhurst, 57 to 43, or a 14-point gap, with 7,269 of 7,957 precincts reporting. Cruz holds a 150,000 vote lead over Dewhurst, while the Democrats have chosen their sacrificial lamb in Paul Sadler who, with only 139,000 votes himself, holds a 63 to 37 lead over his opponent.

Dewhurst is very clearly gaining a smaller percentage of the run-off votes with only two in the race than he got in the Primary with four big names and a few minor names in the race. Dewhurst’s Obama-like “personally destroy the opponent with lies” campaign did more to harm Dewhurst than to help him.

As of 10:59pm Central time, the Associated Press reports Ted Cruz is maintaining his 14-point lead over David Dewhurst, 57-43, with 7,600 of 7,957 precincts reporting. Cruz holds a 145,000 vote lead, or nearly as large a gap over Dewhurst that Cruz’s General Election opponent has in his own run-off (147,000), which he is winning handily at 63 to 37.

And the Secretary of State’s office still shows Harris County (Houston) with only 507 of 1,064 precincts reporting… and Cruz with a 54,000 to 34,000 vote lead there.

Today is the day that eyes across the nation are looking at Texas. Who will they choose as their next US Senator? (The Democrat nominee will be a sacrificial lamb, with no chance of winning.) Will it be the TEA Party favorite Ted Cruz? Will it be the Establishment choice David Dewhurst? That will be decided later tonight.

If you want to know what the TEA Party is fighting for;
If you want to know what the Commonsense Constitutional Conservatives are fighting for;
If you want to know what Sarah Palin, Jim DeMint, Allen West, Mia Love, Ted Cruz, and a great many others are fighting for;
Then you’re about to find out.

Did I write “mafia”? I meant the Philadelphia city council, which, like many other political leaders in big liberal cities, is acting in a manner reminiscent of organized crime, declaring that a privately owned company must change its behavior in order to operate in those cities, which is a tactic similar to what organized crime does, known as “extortion”, which is a felony. When I first wrote a post about Dan Cathy stating that the company doesn’t support gay marriage back on the 20th, I had no idea of the true extent of the liberal apoplexy to come

(Fox News) The Philadelphia City Council will consider a resolution condemning Chick-fil-A for what one city leader called “anti-American” attitudes that promote “hatred, bigotry and discrimination.”

Interesting: I thought the anti-American attitude was one of stopping both free speech and freedom of association. Silly me. Do you see Conservatives rushing out to abandon Amazon due to Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon, donating $2.5 million to gay marriage? Nope. If we were truly upset, we’d just create a competing company. But, we all know that Lefties are pretty lose with their definition of “anti-American.”

City Councilman Jim Kenney sent a letter to Chick-fil-A president Dan Cathy telling him to “take a hike and take your intolerance with you.”

“My effort is to allow people to understand that in certain segments of corporate America there are folks who are using their dollars to promote hatred, bigotry and discrimination,” Kenney told Fox News.

He is introducing a resolution to “condemn this anti-American attitude of trying to deny civil liberties that every American enjoys.”

Kenney joined the mayors of Boston, Chicago and now San Francisco in blasting the Atlanta-based company for supporting a biblical definition of marriage – a union between one man and one woman.

In Liberal World, one is not allowed to disagree with the tenants. Diverging opinion are verboten, comrades, and must be squashed. It’d be interesting to see what would happen if the company pulled all their stores from the liberal cities, reducing jobs and tax money. Other companies might be reticent to build in those cities, since the possibility of being extorted by the politicians would be ever present, and what business owner wants the extra hassle? Is it any wonder job creation is low, what with crazy liberal politicians out there (among other reasons)?

Mr Teach’s use of the word “mafia” seems appropriate. From The Philadelphia Inquirer:

It was early March when the siege began at the Goldtex construction site just north of Center City, and it has continued all through this brutally hot summer – almost five long months. Workers have been beaten, car tires slashed. Delivery trucks are blocked for hours. This week, two people were arrested on assault charges. Neighborhood residents are afraid to walk near the building.

If a gang held a Philadelphia house hostage for this long, you can bet it would have been all over the news and politicians would be issuing releases by the gross. The events at Goldtex are part of a union protest, so there is practically a Cone of Silence hanging over this tense and increasingly violent standoff.

Philadelphia, we need to talk.

It hardly needs to be said that Philadelphia is an old-school union town, one of the last left in America where muscle and tradition rule unquestioned. Until two thirtysomething developers, Michael and Matthew Pestronk, began converting a 10-story loft building at 12th and Wood Streets into 163 apartments, no one had dared in decades to build a major project here without an all-union workforce.

Much, much more at the link. Mrs Saffron continues to note the union harassment of the Post Brothers’¹ project. Post Brothers are using some union and some non-union labor, having offered contracts to union carpenters, electricians and demolition crews, but did not want to contract with the laborers union; to do so would have grossly inflated costs through overly-high wages and requirements for more laborers than the job required.

As I noted here, ALa had a story, last May, about her husband (referred to as The Man in her article) working construction on a non-union job in the City of Brotherly Love:

I have to imagine that even pro-union folks from some cute little Midwest town would be absolutely floored at the abject thuggery that goes down here in Philadelphia. When you meet wildly anti-union people (like me), it’s not because we don’t understand the history of the need to organize or the fact that some companies do take advantage of workers. It’s because we have faith that free market and healthy competition has corrected that need. And it’s because we have been direct recipients of the brand of justice unions here see fit to dish out. Screaming in your face is the best of it and handing out pictures of your children or your wife photoshopped in some bizarre sex act, property damage and bodily harm the worst of it.

The Man is now on a job so contentious it’s made national news. He is escorted in daily by Blackwater security.

You can see signage and video feeds of the actual and documented thuggery here: PhillyBully.com

Do you remember the fire that just took the lives of two firefighters from my brother’s station? Well, that fire took place in an abandoned building that was neglected by the owners and the city that became a den of iniquity and a major health risk for the community…and ultimately two public servants.

This building The Man is at (pictured) is similar. Dubbed “the Graffiti building” by local residents it is a rat infested, homeless flop house, eye sore that has the potential to be a health/fire hazard to the surrounding residents. They are THRILLED that this building is being revitalized. Turned into posh apartments by two ballsy guys from Virginia that refuse to play by the Pay to Play rules here in the city of brotherly love. Kudos to them for standing strong.

We’ve heard that the unions, all of them, are “more riled up than they have been in 25 years.” They can’t believe these guys aren’t caving.

Yesterday, escorted by 2 Blackwater guys and a detective, as The Man drove in to the fenced parking area through a throng of 40+ union members (the masons and the carps that particular day) the guys were screaming various things like, “we know who you are” and mumbled threats…but the two that always floor me…? “We’re fighting for your living wage!” The guys at The Man’s company get paid on the exact scale the union guys do, except they don’t have to pay union dues. Duh. And, “You’re taking food out of my kids’ mouths!” Ummm, you dolt, what about my kids?! Are they supposed to starve? If it’s between my kids and your kids…in what bizarro realm am I concerned about yours?

I wish I could have some Blackwater guys so I could go pick the brains (?!) of these lemmings…

Mrs Saffron noted in her story that the government officials in Philadelphia are remarkably silent about the Goldtex project and the union thuggery that has slowed the project down to where it is four months behind schedule. They have plenty of time to worry that the owners of Chick-Fil-A² are Christians who believe in marriage as it has been known throughout the Christian world for 2,000 years but seem remarkably unconcerned that a private developer is losing money having to defend against illegal thuggery by union picketers or that hard-working men in Philadelphia have been physically attacked, and had their property vandalized by the union goons.³

Now, if Chick-fil-A was denying the benefits required by state law to employees in same-sex “marriages,” there could be some legal action undertaken against the company. However, after a reasonable internet search, I have failed to find a single reference to the company doing that or being accused of doing that.

I am not one of those who will either boycott Chick-fil-A for its owners’ political and religious views or who will take a special effort to eat there;4 there isn’t a Chick-fil-A restaurant around here, although there is one in the Lehigh Valley Mall, where I get at least four times a year. Former Governor Sarah Palin (R-AK) did make a special stop to buy at Chick-fil-A, as noted by Donald Douglas, while William Jacobsen of Le*gal In*sur*rec*tion noted the amazing display of civility amongst our friends on the left concerning Mrs Palin’s visit. We know that the left hate sexism, because they have so often told us so, but somehow the actual evidence of such seems sparse.
_________________________________
Cross-posted on THE FIRST STREET JOURNAL.
_________________________________
¹ – Post Brothers is the corporate name for Michael and Matthew Pestronk.
² – Chick-Fil-A is a family-owned company; its shares are not publicly traded. Thus, there are no public shareholders who can dismiss the company leadership for the president’s remarks.
³ – The editors of The Philadelphia Inquirer did run the story, but it’s pretty deeply buried in the print edition, in the Home & Design section published Friday. Mrs Saffron was not terribly sympathetic to the unions’ positions, but she did manage to throw in some liberal platitudes, such as, “It’s also worth pointing out that unions play a valuable role in protecting American workers from exploitation and abuse by employers, especially in these days of the suffering 99 percent.” She did note that the city has lost many substantial projects due to the inflated costs and political stranglehold the unions have created.4 – I will not cease using amazon.com simply because the founder, Jeff Bezos, donated $2.5 million to support same-sex “marriage,” something I see as ridiculous, sinful and a contradiction in terms. I use amazon.com because it is convenient, useful and provides me with sales-tax free shopping.

That’s “fast” like “quick,” not “fast” like, well, “fasting.” I do go meatless, but that’s entirely beside the point. The idea is things to make when the weak week is ending and I’m longing for a stiff drink ready for the weekend. Maybe I’ll make a tradition of it, we’ll see.

Safeway has some lovely “party sized” dinners that I got because… well, they were about 25% off, and I’m lazy sleep deprived, and I love both lasagnas (five cheese and meat, respectively) and orange chicken. Grabbed the cannelloni because it sounded like something to try.

Thus far:

$7 for five to ten servings. Usually ten bucks plus tax. Easily two evening’s dinner for us with the toddlers, plus a generous packed lunch.

Cooking time is a bit on the low side—by which I mean you’ll want to set it for the low timer, check it, and then let it go to the high suggested cooking time.

The cannelloni was… er… well, TrueBlue says it didn’t taste right. It tasted like salsa made of green peppers mixed with basic pasta and a good white cannelloni sauce to me. Kept its form very well.

The cheese lasagna is WONDERFUL. How good is it? My husband willingly ate it when I wasn’t cooking only non-carne meals. This is the guy that complains there’s not enough meat in his steak and potatoes….

The meat lasagna is good; not great, but better than I could make, and probably less expensive. The meat seems to be rather spicy sausage, but not bad at all. (Note, this is not to be interpreted as “spicy” or “hot” by the measure of most folks; more along the lines of mild-to-medium salsa. Yes, I’m a wimp.)

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DON’T DO THE DEW

VOTE TED CRUZ

Too sexually charged? Alright, try this one.

SLAY THE DC GORMAGON

WITH A CRUZ MISSILE

Too revolutionary? How about this, then?

CRUZIFYDEWHURST

Too violent? Okay, I give up.

Truth Before Dishonor endorsed Ted Cruz over all other candidates for US Senate (Texas) very early on, earlier than did Sarah Palin or most other notables. But Sarah Palin, Jim DeMint, Mark Levin all came out with early endorsements for Ted Cruz, while David Dewhurst, scuzzball that he is, tried to paint Ted Cruz as a commie-pinko-loving DC corruptocrat. Dewhurst used all manner of lies and misinformation to try to destroy Ted Cruz (the Chicago way) in a disgusting outburst of raw sewage.

(You can read the entire transcript of Robert Stacy McCain’s exclusive interview from October 2011 I provided at the above link to The Other McCain.)

David Dewhurst has accused Ted Cruz of wrongfully siding with a Chinese Government owned company over an American company, destroying American jobs, and taking Chi-Com money to do it. It is disgustingly dishonest and intentionally deceptive, in order to try to convince the uninformed of a lie. That “American” company? The American who owns it pulled all of the manufacturing out of the US 20 years ago,moving it to Communist China! If any jobs were lost, those jobs would have been held by Chinese subjects of Communist tyranny, and not US citizens.

David Dewhurst claimed that Ted Cruz is bought and paid for — thus beholden to — DC insiders. Sarah Palin, Jim DeMint, Mark Levin. Washington insiders? Can David Dewhurst tell the truth at all about Ted Cruz? Who in their right minds would think Sarahcuda or The Great One would give their full support and their Star Power to a DC corruptocrat insider? Anyone? Anyone?

Why can’t David Dewhurst run on his record? Perhaps because his record stinks so bad that David Dewhurst is busily changing and scrubbing it. Dewhurst loudly and proudly advocated for full amnesty to all illegal aliens in Texas. And then, in a move many have proclaimed could be in violation of Texas Law, tried to have it stricken from the Official Record. Dewhurst pushed for a wage tax (that would be an income tax) for the income tax-free state of Texas, and has since tried to memory-hole that action. When a Sanctuary City bill (a bill that would eliminate all sanctuary cities in Texas — where illegals can run to and not fear deportation) was in the Texas Legislature, it was Dewhurst in his job as Lieutenant Governor who killed it, despite the overwhelming support for it. David Dewhurst’s record is abysmal for someone claiming to be the Conservative choice. That’s why the scuzzball cannot run on his record.

And David Dewhurst has gotten even more Dishonorable as the run-off election nears, and Dewhurst’s desperation begins to show full force. Many “in the know” have said that the race that was once supposed to be a coronation of the Republican Lieutenant Governor (who nearly got 50 percent of the vote in the Primary, which would have prevented a run-off) is now Ted Cruz’s to lose. So what does David Dewhurst do? He runs out and creates a totally dishonest sock puppet. From Twitchy.com on July 7:

While Cruz maintains an active Twitter presence, Dewhurst’s personal Twitter account has been silent for more than a week and his official campaign account has tweeted just four times in the last eight days. Maybe that’s because Team Dewhurst is more focused on duping voters through misleading social media practices.

Blogger Kemberlee Kaye discovered that “TXSen Fact Checker,” a supposedly objective Twitter account “dedicated to fact-checking the claims in the race for U.S. Senate in Texas,” is actually a Dewhurst for Texas project.

All links go to a tumblr account with a matching name, txsenfactcheck.com which has a similar description as the twitter, “a microsite dedicated to fact-checking the claims in the race for U.S. Senate in Texas, launched to separate fact from fiction in the constant information flow concerning the July 31st run-off.” Once again, no mention of candidate affiliation, that is until you scroll all the way down to the bottom of the page where, “Paid for by Dewhurst for Texas” appears in tiny print.

The Twitter bio for @TXSenFactCheck does not disclose the account’s affiliation with the Dewhurst campaign.

So are we clear on this yet? David Dewhurst is Dishonoring himself with his wholly dishonest attacks and his sockpuppetry in order to try to destroy Ted Cruz’s good name.

And the BIG GUNS have come out.In a very big way. Sarah Palin and Jim DeMint are going to a Ted Cruz rally in Houston on Friday. Glenn Beck will be at a Ted Cruz rally in Dallas on Thursday. Rick Santorum will be pounding the Texas pavement with Ted Cruz this weekend. Rand Paul is coming down to Texas to stump for Ted Cruz. Tea Party Express is all-in for Ted Cruz.

When you have powerhouse names in the Constitutional Conservative movement going all-in in support of Ted Cruz, how is a dishonest schemer such as David Dewhurst supposed to paint Cruz as a RINO ComSimp DC insider and it actually, you know, stick? Only with the uneducated will Dewhurst’s dishonest attacks work.

There once was a ram who lived in South Dakota. Now this ram was a nomadic, constantly traveling sort. He roamed the state, never sleeping in the same place twice. As each new day rose, the ram would arbitrarily choose a direction to travel with no real plans of ever actually getting to any particular place. He just traveled randomly.

On one such a day, the ram chose for no particular reason to travel in a particular direction. But this particular day, the ram came face-to-face with Mount Rushmore. And Mount Rushmore was standing directly in the way of the ram’s arbitrarily chosen direction of travel. Mount Rushmore was blocking the ram’s path.

So, the ram decided to get Mount Rushmore out of his way. He head-butted it, rammed it, charged it. He continued head-butting, ramming, charging all morning and well into the afternoon, with absolutely no progress. Exasperated, the ram took a step back and looked up at Mount Rushmore.

“You need to quit being so stubborn and get out of my way,” the ram yelled up to Mount Rushmore.

Mount Rushmore replied, “Perry, will you never learn? I am here, firmly embedded in this place. Here I have been since long before you arrived and here I will remain long after you are gone. You can keep charging, ramming, head-butting as long as you will, but you will not ever be able to move me. The most likely outcome of your constant rammings, chargings, head-buttings is you will be permanently brain-damaged, while I remain here firmly embedded in this place.”

The randomly wandering ram did not heed Mount Rushmore’s advice, but continued ramming, charging, head-butting the immovable object which had been there long before the ram arrived and will be there long after the ram is dead and forgotten.

In these End Times, with the many anti-christs and, I fervently believe, THE Anti-Christ walking the Earth today and doing their worst, it behooves us to take some time to look to the One, the Savior, the King of Kings. For our destiny is glorious, and not of our doing.

Mack campaign donor, also raided, is a convicted sex offender.
Mack’s sex offender campaign donor’s properties are late on tax payments.
Mack’s brother’s properties are late on tax payments.
Mack’s properties, which faced foreclosure, are late on tax payments.
Mack admin business administrator resigns then pleads guilty to embezzlement from another job.
Mack housing director, convicted thief, quit after everyone found out.
Mack chief of staff arrested for trying to buy heroin.
Mack half brother pleaded guilty to official misconduct.
One of multiple people suing the city for wrongful termination claims her firing came after she questioned missing funds.

Gotta say I didn’t know Trenton was a Chicago suburb. Or is it a Detroit suburb?

We have had some people who have equated suspected that opposition to President Obama’s policies must be motivated by racism. Well, RepresentativeAllen West (R-FL-22) is black, so, by using the logic that some other people have used, shouldn’t we at least suspect that George Soros’ opposition to Mr West could be motivated by racism?

Now, whether Mr Soros is actually a racist is something about which I have absolutely no information. But Foxfier’s brief article points out the silliness of the position that opposition to a black person’s policies must be motivated by racism. Then-Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY) presented a health care plan fairly similar to what was passed into law; had she been elected, and a stimulus plan and universal health care plan been passed, would our liberal from Lewes be telling us that Republican opposition to her policies must be motivated by deeply-seated sexism?

In 2008, former Senator John Edwards (D-NC) was also running, and was considered the third of the top three candidates for the Democratic presidential nomination.1 Like Senators Clinton and Obama, Mr Edwards had a universal health care coverage plan as part of his platform, one not terribly dissimilar from the plans offered by Senators Clinton and Obama. Had Senator Edwards won the nomination, and the general election, he would have attempted to get his health care plan passed,2 and probably some sort of stimulus plan in 2009; would Republican opposition to those have proved that we hated white men? For that matter, had former Governor Mitt Romney (R-MA) won the 2008 Republican nomination,3 and proposed something like the Massachusetts plan known as RomneyCare, and we opposed that, would that have made us, well, what now?

What it would have made us are people who supported or opposed given political positions or policies on principles, not on the race or gender of the politician promoting them. More, it makes us people who believe that a person’s race should not define his political positions. As noted here, when our Democrat from Delaware opined that we evil Republicans must hate blacks and women and Mormons and Hispanics and homosexuals and non-Christians, John Hitchcock’s list of endorsements just happened to be loaded up with the groups that our frequent Democratic commenter assured us we, and he, must hate, and, coincidentally enough, didn’t include even one Anglo white male.4

Why? Because Mr Hitchcock was choosing favored candidates based on where they stood, not for whom they were; he was selecting based upon the content of their character, not the color of their skin. In favoring Ted Cruz for the Texas Republican senatorial nomination, he is favoring a man running against a solid, Anglo white male, Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst (R-TX)

You see, that’s what real conservatives do. We aren’t looking at people’s race or religion, but at their beliefs and political positions. We want to unite people who are Americans as Americans, not divide them into separate groups, selecting some for favored treatment and others for special burdens. And that is the primary thing that separates us from the liberals.
____________________________________1 There were other candidates, such as Governor Bill Richardson (D-NM), Representative Dennis Kucinich (Kook-OH) and former Governor Mike Gravel (D-AK), running, but they were always considered the longest of long shots, and their vote totals confirmed that.2 Though it wouldn’t have been in time to pay for the birth of Rielle Hunter’s daughter.3 He did run for the nomination in 2008, but withdrew two days after the Super Tuesday primaries left him trailing Senator John McCain by more than two-to-one in delegates.4 Mr Hitchcock’s endorsement list:

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Our steamed President wannabe dictator, has voided a section of the Welfare Reform Law that was hammered out through Compromise between a Republican Congress and President Clinton. Our steamed President wannabe dictator along with the compliant HHS secretary gutted the law by Fiat. Well, he just rewrote it to fit his desires and told Congress to go to HELL. I lost track of how many laws Dick-Tater BO has broken so far, but he is certainly on his way to become Hugo Chavez.

NATIONAL REVIEW ONLINE

Obama Ends Welfare Reform As We Know It

By Robert Rector & Katherine Bradley July 12, 2012 7:00 P.M.

This afternoon, President Obama’s Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released an official policy directive undermining the welfare reform law of 1996. The new policy guts the federal work requirements that have been the foundation of that law — one of the most successful domestic policy reforms in the 20th century.
(skip)

The welfare reform law was very successful. In the four decades prior to welfare reform, the welfare caseload never experienced a significant decline. But, in the four years after welfare reform, the caseload dropped by nearly half. Employment surged and child poverty among blacks and single mothers plummeted to historic lows. What was the catalyst for these improvements? Rigorous new federal work requirements contained in TANF.

Contrary to some perceptions, the formula that made welfare reform a success was not giving state governments more flexibility in operating federally funded welfare programs. The active ingredient that made the difference was requiring state governments to implement those rigorous new federal work standards.

Today the Obama administration issued a dramatic new directive stating that the traditional TANF work requirements will be waived or overridden by a legal device called a section 1115 waiver authority under the Social Security law (42 U.S.C. 1315).

(skip)

The result is the end of welfare reform as we know it.

-Robert Rector, a leading authority on poverty and the welfare system, is senior research fellow in domestic policy at the Heritage Foundation. Katherine (Kiki) Bradley, former associate director of the federal TANF program, is research fellow in Heritage’s DeVos Center for Religion and Civil Society.

A thief pauses for a moment, before entering the inviting red doors1 of the local Episcopal Church. The air is cool, the nave dark and quiet, the setting solemn and contemplative. Looking around, he sees the parish priest, who is carefully dusting the altar rail, walks up to him very respectfully and says, “Father, I have my heart set on this really big score, an amazing heist, one which will allow my family and me to live comfortably for the rest of our lives on the proceeds. Father, may I have your blessing for this endeavor?”

Now, just what do you believe the priest would respond? Would he tell the thief, “Certainly, my son. Please, be seated, for I need to don my alb and chasuble and stole, and then we will begin the blessing.”

Or, does the priest say, “My son, that is impossible. The LORD has commanded us, ‘Thou shalt not steal.'”2

Perhaps it might be something different. Perhaps a young lady enters those red doors, and says to he priest, “Father, I am supposed to be a witness in a criminal trial tomorrow. I saw my neighbor’s son shoot that little boy across the street. My neighbor wants me to testify that no, her son didn’t shoot that little boy, and that I saw her son out back, minding his own business when the gunshot went off. Father, I’m so nervous about this; can you give me a blessing to help me get through saving my neighbor’s son?”

Does the priest say to her, “Of course, my daughter, I know how much this frightens you, and I have just the blessing for you to help you through this?” Or does he say, “I’m sorry, but the LORD has commanded us, ‘Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor?'”3

A third scenario. Two young men step through those solemn red doors, and now the parish priest is at the altar itself, gently wiping away any dust which has settled there. The men slowly, quietly, but with determination, approach the priest, and say, “Father, please forgive our intrusion, but, you see, we are very much in love with each other, and we would like your blessing as we move in together to share our lives.”

Does the priest say to the two young men, “Well, of course, my children, God loves you and most certainly has a blessing upon your union?” Or does he tell them, “I’m sorry, my young friends, but there can be no blessing for this, for the LORD has declared such unions to be sinful.”4

The obvious answer, in each of the three scenarios, is that the good, educated and faithful priest would give the supplicants the second answer, for there is and can be no blessing by the church for anything which is sinful in the eye of the LORD. However, if you read THE FIRST STREET JOURNAL last week, you will remember that I addressed this issue, and it seems that, at least in the Episcopal Church, the obvious answer is not the correct one.

Episcopalians approved a churchwide ceremony Tuesday to bless same-sex couples, the latest decisive step toward accepting homosexuality by a denomination that nine years ago elected the first openly gay bishop.

At the Episcopal General Convention, which is divided into two voting bodies, about 80 percent of the House of Deputies voted to authorize a provisional rite for same-sex unions for the next three years. A day earlier, the House of Bishops approved the rites 111-41 with three abstentions during the church meeting in Indianapolis.

Supporters of the same-sex blessings insisted it was not a marriage ceremony despite any similarities. Called “The Witnessing and Blessing of a Lifelong Covenant,” the ceremony includes prayers and an exchange of vows and rings. Same-sex couples must complete counseling before having their unions or civil marriages blessed by the church.

Much more at the link.

This article is filed under the heading of Freedom of Religion on THE FIRST STREET JOURNAL,5 and in the United States everyone is perfectly at liberty to believe anything he wishes. But freedom of religion and freedom of conscience do not somehow cover for dishonesty, and there is really no other way to describe this new position of the Episcopal Church. The Church states, quite formally:

“Blessed Lord, who caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning: Grant us so to hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them” (Book of Common Prayer, p. 236).

It is our foundation, understood through tradition and reason, containing all things necessary for salvation. Our worship is filled with Scripture from beginning to end. Approximately 70% of the Book of Common Prayer comes directly from the Bible, and Episcopalians read more Holy Scripture in Sunday worship than almost any other denomination in Christianity.

What the Episcopal Church says about its “Core Beliefs and Doctrines” is obviously not true; this new policy has put the lie to it. It is certainly understandable that the church, its bishops, its priests, and its people, would have a great deal of sympathy for those who are inclined to homosexuality. The church is supposed to have sympathy for sinners, for all sinners — and it is a standard Christian belief, across all denominations, that we are all sinners6 — and all of the Christian denominations hold that our sins can and will be forgiven, if we both ask for forgiveness and turn away from sin. In the well-known parable of the woman about to be stoned for adultery, Jesus shamed the crowd that was about to stone her, and they all left, and Jesus said that he did not condemn her, yet he did not come up with some blessing for adultery, but told her to go and sin no more.7 The good-hearted bishops of the Episcopal Church have just stood all of the teachings of Jesus Christ on their heads, and said to those for whom they have such great sympathy, we needn’t forgive your sins, because they aren’t sins anymore.

The Episcopal bishops are free, of course, to teach anything that they wish, but they have just lost the ability to call themselves Christians. You cannot teach something directly contrary to the Bible, and call yourself a Christian. They will persist in calling themselves Christians, but they are lying to you and, worse, they are lying to themselves.
_________________________________________1 – Traditionally, Episcopal Churches have red doors, though it is not actually a church requirement. As it happens, though I am not an Episcopalian, I do like the friendly and inviting look of red doors, and the doors shown in the illustration for this article are fairly similar to those on my house.2 – Exodus 20:153 – Exodus 20:164 – Leviticus 18:22; Romans 1:27; 1 Corinthians 6:9-105 – Our host does not maintain that category on TRUTH BEFORE DISHONOR, and it is filed under Christianity on this site.6 – For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God. (Romans 3:23)7 – John 8:1-11
__________________________________________
Cross posted on THE FIRST STREET JOURNAL.

Like this:

The US House of Representatives voted today to repeal ObamaCare, with five Democrats crossing the aisle to vote with the Republicans. As I predicted, Harry Reid has declared the US Senate will not vote on the bill, just like Harry Reid prevented a similar House Bill from being voted on in the Senate in 2011.

More on this later, as I build the article. And apologies for the lateness as I was in the midst of writing an article responding to the radical Leftist Perry Hood of Lewes, Delaware, and his unhinged, fact-free rant about Texas, which included the “severe drought” and how everything was going kaput, when I had to take a 3-hour break due to a strong thunderstorm which caused rivers of water down the gravel drive and heavy ponding in the yard, and caused an internet outage for me.

Matheson voted against the original law but did not vote for its repeal last year.

In a statement after the vote, Matheson, who faces a tough reelection bid, said he had voted against the healthcare bill “at every opportunity” but did not mention last year’s opposition to repeal. He cited statistics showing that healthcare costs are still projected to rise at a greater rate than the economy, indicating the law has had little if any impact.

“With the Supreme Court ruling behind us, and as I reflect on my conversations with Utahans, I think about protecting the future of our economy,” he said. “We must scrap this flawed effort once and for all, start over and do it right.”

Note: Jim Matheson (D – Utah) is up against Truth Before Dishonor endorsed Mia Love, and in a fight for his political life. That could very easily explain both his vote and his dishonest and dishonorable statement after his vote.

Kissell, also in a tough reelection fight, had earlier announced his intention to switch his position on repeal, citing the law’s continued unpopularity with his constituents.

The other three — Boren, McIntyre and Ross — all voted to scrap the law in 2011 and opposed its enactment.

I have updated my ObamaCare Roll Call page with today’s vote, with an extremely modified version of a roll call. If you wish to see the actual Roll Call as provided by the Office of the Clerk of the US House of Representatives, it is provided here.

Well of course our Editor wants to claim a pattern here, but he isn’t willing to peel back the curtain here, realizing that there is more to the quality of life than so-called business friendliness.

Consider this:

* Unemployment is higher than the national average,

* TX has a serious budget shortfall,

* TX has had to seriously cut back on education,

* TX is running out of groundwater, with no solution in sight,

* TX is currently in the second year of a serious drought,

* cattle and grain production has dropped precipitously,

* highest uninsured health care in the country,

* TX is turning down the medicaid expansion federal money,

* John Hitchcock lives in TX,

* and the highest number of death penalties in the country.

You name it, problems in TX are severe.

“Unemployment [in Texas] is higher than the national average.” From his very comment, he includes — but does not link to — something said on CBS last autumn, which included this dandy little statement: Texas’ unemployment has nearly reached the national unemployment level. We’ll check out that claim soon, but let’s point out here that Perry Hood’s claim at the top of his comment is directly contradicted by his link-free quote (something he does with regularity, quoting something without providing a link or a name) at the bottom of his comment.

As I previously noted in an article which made “Post of the Day” at Le-gal In-sur-rec-tion on June 21, the May unemployment figures showed Texas has had a lower unemployment rate than the national average for 65 straight months (and that will only continue to be the case). It’s some strange alternate universe in which Perry the Delaware Socialist lives where Texas’ 6.9 percent May unemployment rate is somehow worse than the US 8.2 percent unemployment rate.

From June 2006 to June 2011, Texas was one of only nine states plus DC that added jobs. During that time-frame, Texas added 537,500 jobs, or over 73 percent of the total jobs added (a rate of 2,138 new jobs per 100,000 population). At the same time the US lost 4,818,000 jobs (a rate of 1,561 jobs lost per 100,000 population). And, point in fact, during 2006 and up till March, 2007, the US was still adding jobs at a rate fast enough to easily keep pace with the population growth. So that only amplifies the rate at which the US lost jobs while Democrats held control of Congress.

In an article I wrote noting again how the Leftist-ruled states of California and Illinois are shedding jobs and productive people with their tax-heavy and regulation-heavy (especially in California) agenda, I pointed out yet another Leftist state’s demise. Maryland, in its anti-Tenth Commandment “soak the rich” Class Envy and Class Warfare mentality created a new tax on the wealthy, most productive residents. What happened? They fled the state and went to more Conservative, more business-friendly, less tax-heavy states. And, in violating the Tenth Commandment, Maryland’s tax revenue stream actually shrank. By quite a bit. Maryland raised taxes on “the rich” and lost money in the process. That’s an outcome we Conservatives have been loudly declaring would be the case with the Leftists’ Class Warfare “soak the rich” mentality. Of course, the “economics experts” are completely shocked to find when the Federal Government puts policies in place that closely track what those self-same “experts” espouse, the results are very notably dismal — again and again and again and again, providing the absolutely knee-slappingly hilarious, yet sobering “unexpected” mantra that those “experts” have been everpresently spouting for the past three and a half years.

Now, Texas does have its share of problems. Barack Obama’s Contempt of Federal Court activities in shutting down off-shore oil drilling and exploration, one of Texas’ largest industries. Barack Obama’s EPA working feverishly to shut down some of Texas’ electric generating plants while Texas is growing much more quickly than the rest of the nation in terms of both population and jobs. And, of course, Texas’ decades-long (or should I say Century-Long) explosive population growth, far exceeding that of the US as a whole, which means Texas has to produce far greater numbers of jobs per 100,000 population than the US as a whole — just to keep pace with population growth.

And how is Texas doing? The state’s unemployment numbers have remained well below that of the US for years and the unemployment rate is dropping faster than the US as a whole. As forecast by the Conservatives among us.

“Texas has a serious budget shortfall.” No, that would be Illinois, California, Maryland, New York, etc, etc. Places the Democrats have run into the ground. Texas has a Constitutional requirement to run a balanced budget. And its biennial Budget is balanced and was balanced without raising taxes, much to the chagrin of Paul Burka, Leftist Senior Editor of Texas Monthly magazine, whose rants I documented and shredded in an 8,500 word article that Le-gal In-sur-rec-tion also named “Post of the Day”. If you don’t want to read the entire thing (and you should), drop down near the bottom where Paul Burka rants and raves about the absolutely demanding, governing-free Conservatives and their orgasmic feeding frenzy of not eating. It’s a real knee-slapper.

“TX has had to seriously cut back on education.” Let’s let IowaHawk handle this one. In his first article, IowaHawk provides this:

So how does brokeass, dumbass, redneck Texas stack up against progressive unionized Wisconsin?

To recap: white students in Texas perform better than white students in Wisconsin, black students in Texas perform better than black students in Wisconsin, Hispanic students in Texas perform better than Hispanic students in Wisconsin. In 18 separate ethnicity-controlled comparisons, the only one where Wisconsin students performed better than their peers in Texas was 4th grade science for Hispanic students (statistically insignificant), and this was reversed by 8th grade. Further, Texas students exceeded the national average for their ethnic cohort in all 18 comparisons; Wisconsinites were below the national average in 8, above average in 8.

Perhaps the most striking thing in these numbers is the within-state gap between white and minority students. Not only did white Texas students outperform white Wisconsin students, the gap between white students and minority students in Texas was much less than the gap between white and minority students in Wisconsin. In other words, students are better off in Texas schools than in Wisconsin schools – especially minority students.

In his second article on the subject, IowaHawk provides even more evidence that destroys the Leftist meme.

While no dropout event is good, Texas is hardly the outlier national shame claimed by Krugman. In fact, it has below national average dropout rates for all 3 ethnic groups considered, consistently in both 2007 and 2010 measures. Among white students, Wisconsin had the second lowest state event dropout rate (NJ #1), where Texas was tied for 7th. Among black students, Wisconsin was #39, Texas tied for #24. Among Hispanic students, Wisconsin was tied for #21, Texas was tied for #17.

We have been dumping more money per student into Public Education for over 40 years without seeing any improvement in test scores. Obviously, to any reasonable person, dumping even more money into the broken system will not fix the broken system. Continuing on with IowaHawk:

Hey, it’s been a fun two days based on a simple 30-minute study of educational statistics. As regards the effect of teacher collective bargaining on student learning, I wouldn’t call what I did conclusive; just pointing out the fallacy of aggregate statistical comparisons. For a definitive study of the effect, I would point to Caroline Hoxby’s (Harvard/ MIT /Stanford, lah tee dah) 1996 QJE paper [pdf], which statistically controls for additional variables. Her main conclusions: collective bargaining increases the input provided to schools (spending, construction and the like), but actual decreases school output (test scores and the like). If you don’t like Greek letters, here’s Hoxby discussing the effect on YouTube.

[Video added.]

Perry would do very well not to listen to Paul Krugman as the above very clearly shows the fraudulent huckster’s tomfoolery. Also, from IowaHawk:

But hey, if credentials and oak-framed vellum degrees are your bag, let me share this email with you:

Dear Mr. Burger:
I edit educationnext.org. I have a blog on the site. I would like to do a blog that will depends heavily on your material,quoting you at length, as I also think Krugman is a nobel prize winning fraud and because your data are intrinsically interesting… I will link the piece to your site, obviously.

Degrees-y enough for you? Despite getting my name wrong, I accepted Prof. Peterson’s request and encouraged him to go at my results hammer-and-tongs. His comments are here.

As for Mr. Krugman, I’ll only note the remarks of his former ombudsman at the New York Times, Daniel Okrent:

“Op-Ed columnist Paul Krugman has the disturbing habit of shaping, slicing and selectively citing numbers in a fashion that pleases his acolytes but leaves him open to substantive assaults.”

No shit, Sherlock.

“TX is running out of groundwater, with no solution in sight.” “TX is currently in the second year of a serious drought.” I don’t know what “groundwater” Perry is talking about. Perhaps it’s the water that’s on the ground, which is directly affected by rain. Because there’s plenty of water under the ground. And I had to stop researching and writing this article for about 3 hours as a strong thunderstorm swept through the area, providing rivers of water running down the gravel drive and ponding heavily in the yard. But Perry doesn’t want people to know that Texas has had one of its rainiest Springs in many years, far above average precipitation.

“Cattle and grain production has dropped precipitously.” Because only Texans eat the beef from Texas cattle. There’s no export to other states or other countries. And no other states ever get effected by droughts (the Carolinas and Georgia a few years ago) or floods (the Great Plains states a few years ago). What foolish claptrap. And with the far wetter-than-average Spring, which is continuing into Summer, the cattle-and-grain issue will very easily resolve itself, without government intervention. That’s not to say the same thing about California’s very agriculturally rich Central Valley, where radical Leftist environmentalist wackos in the California EPA and the US EPA turned the water off, destroying the agriculture, destroying businesses, destroying employment, destroying private wealth, destroying lives. California’s Central Valley problem could be very easily solved. Turn the water back on, you radical Leftist nutjobs!

“Highest uninsured health care in the country.” That may or may not be the case, but Texans are a very Independent, Liberty Loving people on the whole. If they do not want to buy health insurance, that should be their prerogative, and absolutely no concern for the Socialist busy-bodies like Perry. Heck, for individual adults under 30, health insurance is a bad investment, overall. They don’t tend to get all that sick, so their overpayments just go to take care of other people and not themselves. That’s not what makes a good investment.

“TX is turning down the medicaid expansion federal money.” Imagine that. A principled position for Independence and Liberty, refusing “free” OPM (other people’s money) with all the Federal regulations, restrictions, throat-slashing strings attached, coming from an “entitlement” program that is quickly becoming bankrupt. How dare Texas stand up for fiscal responsibility, Liberty, Freedom and Principle! Texas should help bankrupt the US so we can become a Socialist dictatorship that much faster!

“John Hitchcock lives in TX.” That’s just a hate-filled personal attack coming from The First Street Journal’s resident hater. That is all.

“And the highest number of death penalties in the country.” This is a good thing. A very good thing. Violent felons who snuff out innocent lives, be warned. Try that in Texas and you lose your own life. Also, Texans are among the most heavily armed, and we have the Castle Doctrine. Enter my property uninvited after dark at your own risk.

The economic strength rankings of the US’s 366 metropolitan areas is out, and the Killeen-Fort Hood-Temple area (where I live and work) is 30th nationally. Dover, Delaware is ranked 158, Detroit is 215, Cleveland, Ohio is 185.

Among other things, cost of living and job growth are strongly considered to create the rankings.

Let’s do a little math. Of the 366 metropolitan areas in the US, Texas has 6 in the top 49. Washington DC, with its absolute dependence on Federal Government jobs and not economy-growing jobs, ranks number 1. With 6 metropolitan areas in the top 49, each of those six Texas metropolitan areas is guaranteed to have outperformed at least six entire states. With 4 of the top 14 metropolitan areas, each of those four Texas metropolitan areas is guaranteed to have outperformed at least 39 entire states. Is it any wonder Texas is the number one state in the Union, economically?

The first vote to repeal ObamaCare since the outrageous Supreme Court ruling upholding it on “taxing non-activity” grounds is scheduled for the US House of Representatives tomorrow. With the majority of voters still in favor of full repeal, rumor has it some Democrats will cross the line and vote with the Republicans to repeal the monstrosity. (HT Hot Air Headlines) What will the US Senate do? The same thing it does with a great many House-passed Bills: refuse to bring it up for a vote, because doing so will only serve to hurt Democrat election chances. Just remember, every Democrat in the Senate at the time ObamaCare came up for a vote the first time around voted in favor of ObamaCare.

I intend to update my ObamaCare Roll Call page with tomorrow’s Roll call. (And I hope that I actually do update it. heh)

It is rare that an action which took place three years prior to an election has such a heavy impact on that election due to the “short attention span” of the American electorate, but these are unique times. Democrats will lose their election bids as a direct result of ObamaCare and the majority desire for its repeal. And the fact that the destructiveness of ObamaCare has remained in the spotlight ever since its anti-American start.

Truth Before Dishonor has provided multiple articles following the tax-and-regulate schemes of Illinois and California, and the resultant business and people flight away from those Leftist-run states to far more tax-friendly states. We have also shown how the tax-friendly states have been far more economically successful than the Leftist tax-heavy states, in an article Le-gal In-sur-rec-tion named “Post of the Day”. We noted that Illinois’ Democrats — in a move showing even they know that tax increases are economically harmful — provided a major corporation with a 100 million dollar tax credit in order to keep the corporation in the state.

Now, from Hot Air comes the news about Maryland’s own tax-payer flight from high taxes. Yes, Maryland created a confiscatory “millionaire surtax” and, surprise of surprises, Maryland’s wealthy fled the state to places like income tax-free Florida. So, the “soak the rich” tax increase caused Maryland to lose tax revenue in huge chunks. Their decision to raise tax rates on the productive caused them to lose tax dollars in the coffers! Just like we TEA Party commonsense Constitutional Conservatives declared would be the case! Imagine that.

It’s very clear which side is the more economically and budgetarily successful, so if you’re interested in improving our nation’s economic condition or budget condition, there is only one Party for which to vote. And they ain’t the donkeys.